Serious question: if you didnt save enough or run out of retirement money...

[Grumpy's Gal]

I heard on the news that lots of people have zero retirement money or not enough to last them thru retirement.

so, having never been in retirement, I just wonder what happens? also, no one knows how long they will actually be in retirement - I understand that part. If a 65 yr old doesn't have money, they keep working.

If a 90 year old runs out of money, what happens? Does this happen frequently?

( am I the only one who just realized I really don't know the answer to this?)

 

[wilkeliza]

It depends. Most will get medicare (or is it medicaid never can remember) and then a small social security check but if they havw a mortgage or high cost medical needs they'll pretty quickly run out of that and as terible as it is probably die from not being able to take care of themselves. Some of course have family who take care of them but not everyone is so lucky.

 

[QueenIsabella]

There are some options--pretty limited, but they do exist. Medicare is for those 65+, Medicaid is for the indigent at any age. Assuming they paid into Social Security, they would get a small check (I'm thinking in the $1500-2000 per month range, but it depends on factors such as when you start taking it and how much you earned previously).

Some possibilities that come to mind are: moving in with adult children, living in a group living situation--either renting out rooms, or renting a room, or home-sharing. For those with the need, there are nursing homes that will take people with no assets. However, they aren't the best, and you're likely to have to share a room. Beyond that, the options are limited.

I think this is going to become a huge problem over the next couple of decades. Life expectancies have leveled off, but it's not unreasonable to think that you could live to be 90. I suspect an awful lot of Boomers are going to tell their children/grandchildren: save for retirement; don't end up like me.

Now, on the good side, most people own their home, which is an asset that could be tapped. If you have some $$$, you can get into a better nursing home, and they (theoretically, at least) can't kick you out when you run out of money.

 

[winterman]

It depends. Most will get medicare (or is it medicaid never can remember) and then a small social security check but if they havw a mortgage or high cost medical needs they'll pretty quickly run out of that and as terible as it is probably die from not being able to take care of themselves. Some of course have family who take care of them but not everyone is so lucky.

If they are running out of money, they probably qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. So most of their medical needs should be taken care of (assuming Medicaid is not drastically cut back.) Then there is subsidized housing, in which they pay a percentage (maybe 25% to 30%) of their income for rent. Of course, that doesn't leave much, but in my career as a home health nurse I met plenty of seniors with no savings and very low income. Almost never did the subject of money come up.

The average Soc. Sec. benefit is $1341, per the SS web site. Considerably less than the numbers stated by the pp.

 

[Southernmiss]

This is a question I also see for 2 50 something single women I know who are diabetic and have complications and no employment or family .

It's a very scary tough place to be.

All of us at any age need to plan for 'what ifs' the best we can .

 

[Minnesota!]

My mom's financial guy said she can live at her current means until she is 92. She retired at 55, so I think that is pretty good! What happens if she lives to 93? I told her I will find her a nice cardboard box...

 

[mnrose]

I have no idea. I suspect many of them will die younger than they otherwise would for lack of being able to pay for medical care. And, please don't say "but Medicare...." Medicare DOES NOT pay for all medical care (only a portion) and certainly not for all drugs. And, both Medicaid and Medicare are under attack at the moment. Don't kid yourself. And, we all know how expensive medical care can be. With little or no savings, and only a small income, these seniors are not going to be able to afford all the medical care they need.

I read the amount that most people my age (late 50's) have in retirement savings and it scares the crap out of me. There is simply no way to live an even half way comfortable life on that amount of money and you can only work so long. I do think many people in my generation are going to end up working far longer than they would prefer simply to be able to afford to live.

My MIL is 80, and she gets by on very modest savings and a smallish Social Security check. But, she does it, in part, because we bought her a home and charge her only enough rent to cover our expenses (insurance and property tax....we make nothing on that home), which ends up being a very good deal for her. Without us doing that for her, I honestly don't think she could do it. Rent alone on a modest apartment (not nearly as nice as her home is now) would chew up 60-75% of her monthly income. We don't mind helping her (in part because I do not want her living IN my home....she and DH fight like cats and dogs after a couple of days...I get along with her better than her son does...LOL), but what about those seniors who don't have family to help for whatever reason?

I see a crisis coming for the Baby Boomer generation.

 

[mnrose]

If they are running out of money, they probably qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. So most of their medical needs should be taken care of (assuming Medicaid is not drastically cut back.) Then there is subsidized housing, in which they pay a percentage (maybe 25% to 30%) of their income for rent. Of course, that doesn't leave much, but in my career as a home health nurse I met plenty of seniors with no savings and very low income. Almost never did the subject of money come up.

The average Soc. Sec. benefit is $1341, per the SS web site. Considerably less than the numbers stated by the pp.

Getting this subsidized housing is not easy. There are long waiting lists (at least in my area) and with the number of Baby Boomers in and/or on the cusp of retirement, this lack of affordable housing is going to get worse.

 

[loves to dive]

My parents didn't have any retirement savings, thankfully for them, I owned the house they were living in and my Daddy had a pretty decent SS payment. They had medicare and my Mama had supplemental insurance which was actually free, thank goodness since she had Lupus and it was expensive. There are links on the SS website to third party insurers and there are a few who have 0 premium. After my Daddy died (of cancer) she only go part of his SS because she didn't work much so I paid for everything she couldn't pay for. The last two months of her life she was in a hospice house for a while, which was free and in a nursing home, which her ss paid for.

I've made it a point to make sure I have enough retirement combined with SS to cover me. I also have an annuity which covers nursing home care if needed. After having to be the one to support and take care of them (even though I have 5 older worthless brothers, not bitter) I knew I didn't want my honey and son to have to go through it. I've paid off all my debt all ready so even if something were to happen between me and honey, I could still live o.k. off my retirement and SS. I'm 60 right now and plan on going to 3/4 time at my job the start of next year so I'll still be putting into my 401K and will continue to work until I'm either 66 1/2, which is my ss age or until my boss closes down the company, whichever comes first. If he closes the company first, I'll work part time somewhere just for the insurance until I reach SS age.

 

[mjkacmom]

My mom's financial guy said she can live at her current means until she is 92. She retired at 55, so I think that is pretty good! What happens if she lives to 93? I told her I will find her a nice cardboard box...

Same with my parents, except my dad got Alzheimer's, my mom died (losing her SS and pension, plus insurance coverage for my dad), he needs a caregiver. The money will be gone in about 6 or 7 years, he's 78.

 

[wilkeliza]

If they are running out of money, they probably qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. So most of their medical needs should be taken care of (assuming Medicaid is not drastically cut back.) Then there is subsidized housing, in which they pay a percentage (maybe 25% to 30%) of their income for rent. Of course, that doesn't leave much, but in my career as a home health nurse I met plenty of seniors with no savings and very low income. Almost never did the subject of money come up.

The average Soc. Sec. benefit is $1341, per the SS web site. Considerably less than the numbers stated by the pp.

That is what it all reads like on paper but seeing what both my grandparents are going through (with savings and social security and 1 even having a pension) and they struggle. They own their houses but once you start dealing with costs of have heart surgery, cancer, all the stuff that is pretty average for people over a certain age then you realize medicare/medicaid does not actually cover everything. Also there are a lot of doctors that won't even take it because the payouts to them are so low. So many elderly chose between paying for their life saving medicine and food. Add on top of all of that that neither of those programs pays for things like gas for vehicles or taxis because not every city has a good mass transit system or they live away from the country etc and it gets worse. I know my one set of grandparents are probably not going to out live their savings. My grandma on that side is 80 and my grandpa is 82. They both are not great in health and I unfortunately don't believe they'll make it another 5 years let alone 2 to 3 so they are going to be okay in the end. They've lived long lives and have many amazing grandkids and great grandkids. Now my other grandma I worry about. She is only 70something (I think 73) and my cousin helps her with her fiances. We are both worried. She spends more then she makes and has a hording habit. It was usually in check when my grandpa was alive but when he passed she had no one she would listen to who told he to stop buying crap or take it back. She is in decent health but if the money runs out idk what will happen. I guess she'll have to sell the house and move in with a kid.

 

[MillauFr]

They won't be taking many trips to Disneyland that is for sure.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Thanks guys for taking the time to comment. We had recently been going thru all of our retirement acct info ( that we won't need for some time) but when I heard that about people not having enough put aside, I started to wonder!! I don't know much at all about medicare/caid. I know our financial advisor expressed concern once over if social security would still be available.

 

[Mizzoufan]

It's really heartbreaking that the greatest generation is suffering so much now.

 

[soccerdad72]

That's why I had kids!

 

[jodifla]

My mother moved to an area that had subsidized senior housing, so she was able to get by on her small SS check with a bit of help from us. We bought my dad an inexpensive condo in a retirement village in Florida, and then he was able to live on his Social Security.

 

[SC Minnie]

MY mother saved and is doing well. My dad spent instead of saved so is still working 50+ hours/week at 75.

 

[NotUrsula]

My MIL willed herself to die.

Sadly, that is the literal truth. She owned her home free and clear, and took advantage of our state's Senior homestead property tax break, but she started having TIA episodes and got to the point where she wasn't safe to live alone. Her health was otherwise actually quite good, but she got into falls and all kinds of accidents due to the little blackouts. (At one point she blacked out while eating breakfast and broke her collarbone by falling out of a kitchen chair.) Her doctor told DH she needed to move in with us, but our home is tiny and built like a tower (the bedrooms and bathroom are not on the same floor), and there literally was no safe place to put her, so she had to move into assisted living. It was an affordable place just a few doors down from our home, but she hated it there, and it cost ~$4K per month. By the time she had been there 7 months she had been taken to the ER by ambulance 5 times because of falls in the night, and the bills that Medicare and her Federal retiree insurance did not cover were devouring her savings. We put her home on the market but it wasn't selling fast enough, so we had to subsidize her rent to stretch her funds, and the value of the house was only going to carry her for about 2 yrs. Once she became aware of that situation she largely stopped eating and drinking and started doing things that she knew were dangerous for her, in the obvious hope of having a fatal accident. Her kidneys started to fail and she deliberately did not take her medications for it. She spent the final 6 weeks in in-place hospice, and died in her sleep just under a year after moving out of her home.

She could have moved to a Medicaid AL facility once her funds ran out, but all of those here are set up like dorms, with shared bedrooms and hall bath situations. She was agoraphobic, and the fear of having to live in a truly communal situation like that terrified her. She preferred death over what she saw as a living hell.

Becoming disabled can torpedo even the most careful retirement savings. Many older folks now who saved carefully all their lives (but were never more than the middle of the middle class) rely on a plan that was based on living mortgage-free in their own homes. When that no longer becomes possible and they need to pay rent on a place in a staffed facility, the whole foundation crumbles for most of them.

 

[Minnesota!]

Same with my parents, except my dad got Alzheimer's, my mom died (losing her SS and pension, plus insurance coverage for my dad), he needs a caregiver. The money will be gone in about 6 or 7 years, he's 78.

That is what I worry about. My dad died at 51, so it is just her (and her worthless boyfriend, but...that's another topic). She has great coverage for medical/dental thanks to the company she retired from, but she has been a functional alcoholic/heavy smoker since she was a teenager. She is very generous with her money, as well (which, I am very grateful for, but it makes me nervous that she is giving it away...). With family history, she is going to either die younger-ish (both my grandma's died at 74) or live well into her 90's (grandpa's). I just don't want her to ever worry about money later based on what she does with it now...she (and my dad) worked and scrimped VERY hard for the lifestyle she is now able to lead..

I am sorry to hear about your mom and your dad. So hard to see our parents age and get ill, etc.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I heard on the news that lots of people have zero retirement money or not enough to last them thru retirement.

so, having never been in retirement, I just wonder what happens? also, no one knows how long they will actually be in retirement - I understand that part. If a 65 yr old doesn't have money, they keep working.

If a 90 year old runs out of money, what happens? Does this happen frequently?

( am I the only one who just realized I really don't know the answer to this?)

My parents rent my brother's condo and live check to check. It is not pretty. I expect we will have to take them in at some point.